A Marine Master Sergeant I met at Perry last summer told me about one of his guys that carried an official looking sign that said "Designated Smoking Area" just about everywhere he went.
Any time he wanted a smoke he would just hang the sign somewhere and light up.
The Master Sergeant figured out what this PFC was doing but kept his mouth shut because he thought it was funny. He wanted to see where this would go. One day the MSG asked him on whose authority he was acting on and the PFC said he was acting on his own authority.
Of course, the Master Sergeant then pointed out that as a PFC he really didn't have a whole lot of authority and the PFC immediately agreed with him but pointed out that nobody of senior rank had ever decided to question the sign and until someone with more rank than PFC decided to change things he was good to go.
The Master Sergeant simply told the PFC to carry on and told me that for the next several months he would see various officers get ready to raise cain about the PFC and his cronies puffing away until they noticed the sign and they would simply ignore the smokers and leave them to their vices.
Once in a while an officer or NCO would see the sign and simply light up and have a smoke with them.
While I am not going to condone smoking, I have to admit it was pretty ingenious and I have to admit that having guys with minds like that in the service makes me sleep a little better.
I asked the Master Sergeant why he let the PFC slide and he admitted to me that he was struck by an overwhelming curiosity as to how long the guy was going to be able to get away with it. He laughed when he told me that several times the regimental commander, a colonel, saw the sign and left the smokers alone.
When I asked him how far up the chain things would have gone until someone saw through the game and said something, the Master Sergeant told me he had wondered the same thing and that was part of the reason he let it slide.
I don't blame the Master Sergeant as I suppose I would have done the same thing if I were in his shoes. The curiosity would have killed me.
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